Anacostia Park - Nature & Science (U.S. National Park Service)

Click here for a partial species list (200 Kb PDF) of one small section of Anacostia Park for an idea of what you might see here.

For over 70 years, Anacostia Park has been an experiment in providing recreational opportunities through a managed flood plain. In those years the economy has had its ups and downs. The Park Service has learned more on the importance of flood plain resources, and wetland restorations have been occurring as funding allows. The latest restoration finished was at Kingman Lake, but other restorations of wetlands are occurring for wildlife habitat, flood control and bio-diversity for the future. All of these decisions take place in the public eye. Feel free to contact the park staff for more information on past or planned restorations.

The Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail project was signed to approve the project.

Please click on the Animals and Plants buttons to the left for additional information for National Capital Park-East sites in the Anacostia River Watershed.

Landsat 7 courtesy of NASA

In this false color image, the black running from lower left to upper right is the Anacostia River. The red is trees; the pink is grass. The blue/green and white are all man made structures like roads and buildings. Anacostia Park is the thin pink and red area along the edges of the Anacostia River. Urban run off, water from streets and buildings, is one of the big threats to the Chesapeake Bay. The grass and trees of Anacostia Park filter urban run off before it reaches the Potomac River, one of the major tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.